1. Ecstasy, trances, visions, and finally the unio mystica (mystic union as the bride of Christ) marked the anchoress' specific way of living; direct experience of God, the rapture or the enthousiasmos of God were the highest aim, and guidance from the confessor was the transformed remainder of ecclesiastical order.

Die Beginen gründen inoffizielle religiöse Gemeinschaften, die ein oder mehrere Häuser, später ganze Stadtteile bewohnen.